Stolen Love
by follow you into the night
Summary: After the Pain Arc, many of the characters come to accept their true feelings for one another, but before anything can be voiced, the four kunoichi up and vanish. Not even Kiba can track them. Too bad for the boys, because now the girls are being forced to compete for a marriage none of them want. NejiTen ShikaIno NaruHina SasuSaku
1. Missing

_**I just randomly got this story idea while I was re-watching the Pain Arc.**_

_**I hope it doesn't sound too rushed; I was trying to write it down fast. I'm not 100% positive that I know what's going to happen in the next chapter, but it should be fun since I am going to pit all of the girls various talents up against each other.**_

_**Enjoy the story! :D**_

The destruction of the Leaf Village brought about a great change in many of the shinobi's minds. Life was no longer taken for granted, and time was now as precious as air itself. The devastation healed many old wounds, opened eyes to new light, and gave those with fear in their hearts the courage to take a chance. Some things, of course did not change. There were a choice few who kept the icy barrier around their hearts firmly in place, not allowing the rush of life to melt it away.

Village defenses were down to an all time low, yet no one had yet recovered enough from the joy of victory to put precautionary measures in place. It was once the light faded into night that people began drifting away in search of loved ones and things of sentimental value that may not have faced destruction. This is where Iruka found the tree outside the academy, still tall and strong; where Kakashi pulled a worn photo from the ground where he had buried it many years ago; where Shikaku found love's embrace as his wife scolded him out of pure fright and worry. The pieces were slowly put back together.

This is what Tenten observed from her perch atop the rooftop of rubble. Other than her teammates, she had no one else to share the moment with. Though they had missed the worst of the battle, Team Guy still felt the punch of reality just as strongly as any one who witnessed the battle first hand. Their homes were destroyed, yet they managed to be thankful that not a single casualty was sustained from the battle. Guy Sensei and Lee had youthfully kept the dying embers of happiness alight as they worked tirelessly to keep a smile upon every child's face. Neji, along with the rest of the Hyuga clan had grouped together, finding strength in numbers, despite the fact that the clan head was currently away.

But all Tenten had was a pile of rocks and a single scroll filled with her beloved weapons. She was off on missions so often that she never really settled into the apartment she rented, even though she had resided there for nearly three years. She had no parents or siblings to track down, to fuss over until she was sure they were okay. She was alone; just as she always had been.

"T-Tenten?" So divested in her thoughts, Tenten had neglected to notice the young Hyuga heiress' approach. Putting on the brightest smile she could manage, Tenten turned her head to face the girl.

"Hai, Hinata?"

Nervously pushing her two fingers together, Hinata looked anywhere but Tenten. "Neji-nissan was looking for y-you. The Hyuga's have opened up the compound for friends who lost their homes. We were b-both hoping you would accept the invitation. Neji-nissan seems worried about you."

Tenten tilted her head curiously. She could understand the invitation, Neji knew that her apartment was near the epicenter of the blast and was therefore destroyed, but what she didn't understand was why he would be worried. It wasn't in his nature to concern himself with other's wellbeing. It still continued to amaze her how much of an effect Naruto had on him.

"Thank you, Hinata. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to-" Before the words were out of her mouth, Tenten felt a sudden tinge of dread. The air had become shiny and her vision was shaky. Pinpointing Hinata's swaying figure below, Tenten was shocked to find the girl in a peaceful haze. Clumsily forming hand signs, Tenten tried to release what she believed to be a genjutsu, but it had no effect and only caused her to tumble over the edge of the rubble before her vision went black.

* * *

Neji was getting tired of this. After enlisting the help of his cousin, Neji had continued her mission of scouring every face in Konoha for Tenten. Now, after nearly an hour, he was unable to find Hinata either.

"Byakugan." Giving up on regular eyesight alone, Neji activated his bloodline trait. Among the many familiar chakra signatures, not a single one belonged to either his cousin or his teammate. Before deactivating, Neji located the knuckleheaded hero Naruto pushing through the crowd, headed in his direction.

"Neji!" Waving wildly in the air, the clueless Naruto gained a "hn" in response. "Glad I caught up with you! I was wondering if you had seen Hinata? It's kinda….well you see….there's something that I wanted to….Ugh! Just, have you seen her anywhere?"

Neji smirked at Naruto's flushed face, relieved that Naruto had finally managed to notice Hinata. All it took was her almost dying to save his life and him almost letting the Nine Tails have complete control. They didn't call him Konoha's Number One Knuckleheaded Ninja for nothing. But then the problem of the missing chakra signature rose once more to dominate his thoughts.

"I have been trying to locate Tenten, so I enlisted Hinata's help. However, it has been almost an hour, and now neither of them appear to be within Konoha or the surrounding area."

Suddenly, as if sobering up, Naruto clutched his fist. "I think we have a problem."

Confused by Naruto's uncharacteristic behavior, Neji asked a bit shakily. "What makes you say that?"

"Activate your Byakugan again. This time look for Sakura and Ino." The dead serious tone Naruto was using had Neji obediently following his orders.

"Byakugan. " He scanned through each chakra, but he found neither girl. "They aren't here. What is going on?"

"I went to ask Sakura if she had seen Hinata, but Shizune told me that Sakura had disappeared nearly an hour before. So when I asked to speak to Ino, she told me that she was in the private sector tending to Shikamaru's broken leg. But according to Shikamaru, he had been waiting for an hour and she never came to treated him."

Silence overcame the two boys as they pondered over the possibilities of all four kunoichi going off grid at the same time.

"Yo, Naruto, Neji, what's up?" Kiba broke the silence as he strolled up. When they didn't reply Kiba just shrugged it off as it being a long day. "Neji, I found Tenten's scroll mixed in with the rubble. I figured she must be freaking out without her weapons right now, but I couldn't find her. Give 'um to her would ya?"

That snapped Neji out of the trance he was in. If there was one universal fact in the world, it was that Tenten NEVER lost her weapons. The last time he had seen her was long after the fighting had ended and he was positive that the scroll had been firmly attached on her person. Something was seriously not right.

* * *

"Tenten…Tenten…" Woken by soft whispers, Tenten groggily tried sitting up only to find that this action caused pain to course through her arm and her head began pounding. Wearily opening her eyes into slits, Tenten managed to focus on two hands over her stomach enveloped in a green glow. "Stay down Tenten. You'll only exhaust your injuries if you try to move right now."

Recognizing the voice, Tenten peered up at Sakura from her position on the floor. Now that her mind was beginning to regain some activity, she noticed to lavishly decorated ceiling above her. The embroidery looked as if it was made of pure gold, and the middle formed a dome that allowed the sun to shine in through the glass.

Feeling more confident in her ability to sit up, Tenten used her arms as a brace, but was surprised to feel another set of arms help support her. Though turning her head caused the pounding to grow louder, Tenten moved her position to find the frightened faces of both Hinata and Ino.

"Ah! You are finally awake! It is so wonderful to meet all of you lovely ladies. I am honored that so many of you were eager to compete for the chance to marry me!"

The voice seemed to be emanating from the very walls as the four girls turned to look for the owner. "I did not sign up for any competition, and just who are you anyways?" Ino's attitude shone through the fear and confusion as she jumped to her feet, glaring around the room in annoyance.

A door, which Tenten was sure had not been there before, flew open as a young, haughty man pranced in. He was no more than a few years older than her, and he had dirty blonde hair, neatly groomed to perfection, and flashing green eyes. His clothes were encrusted with jewels and had fancy embroidery, making it obvious that this man meant to flaunt his wealth and power.

"My name is Takashi Takahiro, and one of you lucky ladies will be my bride."

* * *

_**Is is bad that I am ready to skip to the last chapter? I already have it all planned out in my head. I guess I'll just have to be patient!**_

_**Stay tuned for next time!**_

_****For that last line, just picture Naruto. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be Hokage! Believe it!"_


	2. Let the Games Begin

**Sorry for the slowww update. I got caught up in this book that I was reading and kind of forgot to write the next chapter.**

_**starhuda:**__That was a very astute observation. Takashi is basically going to be my version of a Naruto/Lee mash-up._

_**Crazy4cocoapuffs: **Oh they definitely go far far away. This chapter will explain just how unreachable they are.  
_

_**jasmineflowr19876: ** Eh, I dragged this chapter out too long, so the competition officially begins in the next chapter.  
_

_**Thanks to All Who Reviewed! Y'all are so sweet!**  
_

**So I realized while re-reading this that I haven't included much romance between the couples, so I am going to ask for y'alls opinion:**

_**Would you like me to spend the next four chapters focusing around one couple per chapter?**_

* * *

"Hello fair maidens! I welcome you to your very first day of the Marriage Competition! May I ask how your sleep faired?"

Grumpy as usual, Ino made a loud hmph. "T-the sleeping arrangements were quite nice, sir. Th-thank you." The other three girls gaped at the quiet Hyuga girl.

"Don't humor this guy, Hinata! The only reason we were stuck in that room, as prisoners, was because of this guy." Ino continued to rant as Tenten began to survey the terrain.

Having been on many missions with her team, more specifically Neji, Tenten knew the natural surrounding of every land in the nation. However, this place was like none other. Within seeing distance alone, there were seven waterfalls cascading over rock cliffs which formed a type of arena, with only a single path in and out. Even the vegetation, which Tenten was quite familiar with, looked odd. The flowers were all hybrids, and rose to heights that no normal flower ever could. There were few trees to speak of, and the ones that were visible were all draped heavily in luscious ivy and moss. The entire palace looked like something out of a fairy talk.

The castle was highly impractical, and it held no fortifications in case of an enemy attack. The girls had yet to encounter any guards, which was highly unusual since they were all prisoners. For some reason, though all of the girls were highly agitated, not one of them had even thought of escaping or fighting. This entire place was just getting stranger and stranger by the minute.

"Takashi?" Ino flung her head around, surprised at being interrupted from her tirade on the man who stood across the clearing from them.

"Hehe, yes, Tenten?" Takashi was scratching the back of his head nervously, darting her eyes back to Ino every few seconds with something akin to fear and confusion.

"I've done a lot of traveling, and it's just…" Tenten swept her hand around. "I have never come across a place quite as…mystical as this."

Takashi grinned, happy to be back in comfortable territory where he was able to boast. " Ah how rude of me! Mother would not be proud!" Striking a pose much too similar to Rock Lee's, Takashi took a moment to compose himself. "The four of you lovely ladies have been summoned to Farrowing Falls. No one may enter without first being summoned. Each generation, four beautiful maidens are carefully selected from one of the Five Great Nations to participate in a competition to become Queen of Farrowing Falls!"

"And if we say we don't want to compete?" Sakura asked slyly.

"Who says any of you get a choice." The air left Tenten's lungs at the sound of the cold, harrowing voice, and ice seemed to run through her veins.

Turning slowly, she was met with the sight of a richly dressed woman in her early fifties. Her skin was pale, free of blemishes and wrinkles, almost as if time had not touched her. Though quite beautiful, something in her expression did not settle well in Tenten's stomach.

"Mother!" Breaking the trance Tenten had not realized she was in, Takashi leapt up and down like a child. His mother, face still stern, held an air of importance as she strode past the four shocked girls.

"I see you were unable to keep yourself from indulging these girls with private information." She shot her son a withering glare, but he seemed impervious to it and merely kept grinning like a fool. "My name is Rebecca Waters and thirty years ago, I stood where you now stand."

"H-how do we get home, ma'am?" Hinata ducked her head, ashamed to have made the lady even angrier.

"Let me explain a few things. Do not be so insolent as to believe that you have any chance of escape. I tried, and failed. Your only choice is to take part in the competition and pray you lose. The drug you all inhaled before being summoned will not allow you to attempt to throw the tournament. Your skills will always be at the peak of their performance. The only hope you have are the interviews at the end of the competition. If you are able to give a good reason as to why you must return, then you are free to go. Until then, let the games begin." With a wave of her arm, the first challenge presented itself.

* * *

(Let's just pretend that Lady Tsunade is not in a coma after the Pain Arch.)

Every existing teammate of each of the girls had stuffed themselves into the tent Tsunade currently occupied as she was recuperating. Neji stood stock still in front of the Hokage, fists clenched at his sides, as she pondered the information the group had just relayed to her.

Lee had tears in the corners of his eyes as he kept babbling about the springtime of youth missing without the flowers of Konoha. Naruto was lying flat on his back, fists covering his eyes in a turmoil of emotions, and still drained from his previous fight. Shikamaru had propped himself up against Choji, nursing his broken leg, and mumbling a troublesome every few minutes. Choji, acting as Shikamaru's wall, had the drying stains of tear tracks on his face as he stared hard at the ground. Shino, impervious as ever, stood in the corner. With none of his face visible, it was hard to assess his reaction to his missing teammate. Kiba, opposite of Shino, was wearing a path into the floor as he paced angrily back and forth, snarling in agreement with the still babbling words of Lee.

Tsunade, seated upon a cushion, quietly assessed all of this, pondering what she should do about the current predicament. She sighed loudly, preparing herself for the retaliation she knew was coming. "Kiba…Shino…Lee…Choji…Retrieve supplies. I want the four of you out of the village, tracking the girls whereabouts, in half on hour. The named boys stood to attention, bowing respectively to the Hokage before quickly dashing out of the tent.

Rubbing her temples, Tsunade looked into the eager and determined faces of the remaining three young men. "The three of you, rest."

"NO WAY! I HAVE JUST AS MUCH RIGHT TO GO AS THEM!"

"I shouldn't be left behind just because of this troublesome leg."

"I didn't even participate in this fight! My skills are much better suited for tracking. I would be a perfect edition to the team."

Tsunade held her palm up, silencing the three's arguments. "Naruto, you just defeated the Six Paths of Pain single handedly. Jiraiya lost his life defeating just one."

"B-but Hinata…"

"Shikamaru, you are incapacitated and would only slow the team down. Your skills are better suited here, creating a strategy."

"Troublesome…Ino…"

"Neji, your clan is currently in disarray as Hiashi is out of the village. With Hinata gone and with the elders' old age, you are needed here to lead your clan for the time being."

"I disagree! As a member of the Branch family, I have no right to leadership, and Tenten…Tenten needs me."

"I'm not any happier then the three of you, but my orders are final. You are dismissed."

With no other choice, the three upset young shinobi drifted out of the tent.

_**If you didn't catch the question at the top, would you please go read it and give me y'alls opinions. I can keep writing the way I am, or just narrow the focus.**_

_**It's up to y'all!**_


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